Cuban refugee Tony Montana(Al Pacino) goes to America and wants the American dream. He goes from being a small time criminal for the mafia and slowly becomes a powerful gangster with the world at his feet. However, while being powerful, he gets into bigger trouble than he did when he first started out.
Well best way to start a review on this film is our
character Tony. First off and to me, this is one of Al Pacino's best
performances! He looks and acts Cuban; he's cool; no one can swear as good as
him; he's tough; he’s great at kicking ass; and on top of it, I can't believe
it's the same actor who played Michael Corleone in "The Godfather"! I
love his story about rising to the top and than losing everything from greed and
drugs. While being a bad guy, he has his limits and loves his family even if
his Mother doesn't want him. I don't understand why people idolize him though; because
while being cool and tough, he still loses in the end like in many other great
gangster films and in a very harsh way. Still with that said, Tony's still a
great character and he is indeed one of Hollywood's
best gangsters and characters of all time.
What's good is a film without its supporting characters, well you're in for a real treat because the characters in this film are as good as our protagonist. Let's start with the love interest played by Michelle Pfeiffer. While her character is very shallow, she’s not only gorgeous but she is still likable and Pfeiffer does a fantastic performance playing her (Especially in her last scene). His boss Frank played by Robert Loggia is very fun and enjoyable as this mobster and personally I think this is his best and most iconic performance. Even while doing bad to our lead I still feel bad for him, he's just that good of a character. His Sister Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) is very lovable, has great chemistry with Tony and his friend, and is more identifiable than Tony's girl since we see what money and greed and can do to a nice girl, but even when she is corrupt by money, she’s still lovable. The powerful drug lord Sosa (Paul Shenar) has danger written all over him with his serious and intimidating approach, he's so intimidating that even when he's nice you feel unsafe and I always get shivers when he tells Tony not to "F--k" with him. Even when people talk about him he's unsettling, he's defiantly the Hyman Roth of the movie. Finally we have Tony's best friend Manny (Steven Bauer) and I'm just going to say it, he's the best supporting character in the movie. He's cool, he's smooth, he's smart, fun and he knows the limits and how to earn a better life than the path that Tony is choosing.The only thing that he's addicted too which does ruin him is his obsession with the ladies. He also does get Tony hooked up with someone that Tony didn't trust, which backfired, so I can't really say that he would be a more successful leader than Tony. With that said, all he wants to do is live a fun and simple life, with some extra dirty cash, while Tony just wants everything, which seems like a better life style compared to Tony's decisions.
Getting to my thoughts on the film itself; first of all, I love the score and songs that were put in the film. They bring great atmosphere; heavy thrills; sound really dramatic and epic at the same time; really helps bring the emotion during a tender or depressing scene; and also brings the fun of the 80's. It's really an incredible score! The shots and sets are all really great and really pulls you into the films atmosphere even more. On top of it, this film (At the time at least) has "Balls"! Before "Goodfellas", "Carlito's Way", "Casino" and so on, this film had really heavy R rated material going on, such as the quotable strong language; graphic use of drugs; and really intense violence. The violence and the action are what really make the film. Who can forget scenes like the chainsaw scene, or the guy being hung from a helicopter, or the kills that Tony commits, or the big and all time best climatic shoot out, it's all really jaw dropping, especially for the time and it still holds up today.
This film is one of the best gangster films of all time and is one of the best remakes of all time. Oh it's a remake you ask, yes it is! When will I review the original, sometime in the future.
RATING 5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment